Man Gets Life Sentence for Killing Ex-Army Chief Gen Seare

ADDIS ABABA – A federal Court on Monday sentenced Mesfin Tigabu to serve life in prison for killing former chief of staff of the Ethiopian army, General Seare Mekonnen.

Mesfin, Gen Sear’s bodyguard, was found guilty of murdering the former chief of staff by the anti-terror and constitutional affairs bench of the Federal High Court on June 4, 2021. The court adjourned until June 28 for sentencing.

During Today’s court’s hearing, prosecutors had sought death penalty, the federal attorney general office office said in a statement.

The court, however, decided to give Mesfin a life imprisonment after looking into his plea for leniency.
The verdict came two years after Gen Seare was shot dead inside his home in Addis Ababa.

Officials said the killing was a part of a failed coup plan in Amhara region, where its governor Ambachew Mekonnen and Attorney General, Migbaru Kebede, were killed on the same day.

Gen Seare died trying to prevent the coup attempt against the administration in Amhara regional state, PM Abiy Ahmed said in a statement he gave hours after his death.

Authorities accused Amhara region security chief, Brig Gen Asaminew Tsige, of masterminding the coup plan that aimed at destabilizing the East African nation.